UK recognises FRSC Ed qualification, says envoy
The United Kingdom recognises the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (FRCS Ed) qualification, British High Commissioner to Malaysia Ailsa Terry has clarified.
This was in response to health website CodeBlue’s article saying that the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) does not recognise the cardiothoracic surgery qualification from Malaysia’s parallel pathway programme with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for specialist registration in the UK.
Taking to X, Terry said: “The parallel pathway...
The United Kingdom recognises the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (FRCS Ed) qualification, British High Commissioner to Malaysia Ailsa Terry has clarified.
This was in response to health website CodeBlue’s article saying that the UK’s General Medical Council (GMC) does not recognise the cardiothoracic surgery qualification from Malaysia’s parallel pathway programme with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for specialist registration in the UK.
Taking to X, Terry said: “The parallel pathway is a great UK-Malaysia partnership helping provide high-quality specialist surgeons. In light of recent media reports, I want to confirm the UK approach remains unchanged. The UK GMC continues to recognise qualifications from prestigious Royal Colleges.
“For any non-UK surgeon wishing to practise in the UK, the process also remains unchanged. Similar to the approach taken in Malaysia, surgeons may apply to join the UK Specialist Register after completion of additional training requirements,” she said, tagging the Health Ministry, minister Dzulkefly Ahmad, and director-general Dr Muhammad Radzi Abu Hassan in her tweets.
Dzulkefly then shared a screenshot of his text with Terry, in which the latter called the CodeBlue article “sensationalised”.
He said on X that he was sharing the post to dispel the “misinformation” spread by the health website.
Portal stands by report
In response, CodeBlue stood by its report on the matter.
Its editor-in-chief Boo Su Lyn said this is because the portal has not received any objections nor requests from the GMC’s press office to correct or take down the article.
Neither did the British High Commission send any request to CodeBlue to correct the report, or seek to meet the portal to clarify the issue, Boo said.
READ MORE | KINIGUIDE | Parallel pathway - what is it and why is it an issue?
On April 25, the portal reported Raja Amin Raja Mokhtar, who is on the board of studies of the Universiti Teknologi Mara-National Heart Institute (UiTM-IJN) cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme, as saying that the varsity is agreeable to opening up the course of study to non-bumiputera parallel pathway trainees and graduates.
He said the decision was made after speaking to UiTM’s vice-chancellor and the chairperson of the UiTM board, and they agreed to the idea for a limited period.
This comes after four graduates who earned a Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons Edinburgh (FRSC Ed) qualification for cardiothoracic surgery were told they could not register as specialists and practise the specialism here because the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) does not recognise the qualification.
UiTM is the only varsity that offers a parallel pathway programme in collaboration with IJN in the cardiothoracic field, which comprises surgery and care for heart and lung diseases.
The Malaysian Medical Association previously said that UiTM should allow non-bumiputera Malaysians seeking specialised training in the cardiothoracic field, given that international students can enrol in the university.
Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said there had been no discussion on opening the UiTM postgraduate programme to non-bumiputera students.
Several pertinent issues needed to be scrutinised before such an idea could be considered, he added.
UiTM vice-chancellor Shahrin Sahib said the varsity is committed to upholding the UiTM Act 1976 (Act 173) and Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, which only allows the enrolment of bumiputera students.
However, UiTM will accept whatever the government decides with the blessing of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong if the matter arises due to national need, he added.
On Wednesday the UiTM student representative council urged students to dress in black to protest a proposal to allow non-bumiputera students to enrol in the cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programme in an online campaign.
